Researchers say NIH funding cut puts young scientist at risk

Researchers say NIH funding cut puts young scientist at risk

In mid-March a group of academic researchers at seven top US universities and biomedical research institutes published a strong protest against more than five consecutive years of flat funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that they say thwarts promising young researchers and threatens medical progress. Their report, "A Broken Pipeline? Flat Funding of the NIH Puts a Generation of Science at Risk," states that stagnant NIH funding is taking a heavy toll on the American medical research enterprise and predicts that the nation will lose a generation of young researchers to other careers and other countries if the NIH budget is not increased. The report profiles 12 junior researchers from institutions across the country who attest to the funding difficulties they and their professional peers are experiencing.

Coinciding with the release of the report, the US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a hearing to explore the negative effects of flat funding for the NIH on the next generation of medical researchers. For additional information, please download the document at http://www.brokenpipeline.org/brokenpipeline.pdf.

Source: Association of American Medical Colleges, AAMC STAT, March 17, 2008.